They could be your next audience member or donor…

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Shoshana

Here is a quick thought for the day: If you are on the side of hiring an employee, consultant, intern, etc., make sure you follow up with the people that did not get the job.  If you have a call for speakers, artists, etc., follow up with the people you do not choose. They could be your next audience member…

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Building audiences, or rather, a family

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Shoshana

I have often said that it is best to treat your audience members like partners. This is a very business like term. The arts, although we are businesses, are more than just a money transaction. It is a special relationship with our audience members that means even more than partnership. One of the 4 C’s of audience development is “Community.”…

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Deciding on a new path for audience development

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Shoshana

After 5 months of working for an exclusive client, I am again at a crossroads. I started Audience Development Specialists in 2008 and have been plugging along ever since to get the word out. Since then, the collective voice for audience development has grown bigger, and it is now a part of our every day arts vocabulary. I have seen…

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Resources for audience development factor in

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Shoshana

After a very eye opening experience, I wanted to share with you some thoughts I have on resources for marketing and audience development. If you have been following my posts for a while, you already know that I feel strongly that setting aside resources to build your audiences is crucial for today’s arts scene. If you feel strapped for resources,…

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Are you talking to yourself?

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Shoshana

In our world of constant communication, I see people talking to themselves. I do not mean this in the way you think I do. Yes, some people do appear like they are talking to themselves, and some might just be. What I mean is that many of us keep preaching to our own crowd, our own bubble, and we do…

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Experiment and stay on brand?

Posted on July 7, 2016 by Shoshana

Is it possible to experiment with new programs and stay on brand at the same time? If you know who your existing and potential audiences are, yes you can. I have been working with a few organizations that are attempting to build new audiences with new programs. Sometimes I get the call too late to make this suggestion: Before you…

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Everyone – including the artists and board

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Shoshana

As you may already know, selling an event is becoming more challenging, especially when people rely on the marketing staff alone to get the work done. It has been proven for many events that when there is a team mentality, events sell out more often and houses become more frequently full. In order to create the buzz for an event, it…

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Explaining the process is good for audience development

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Shoshana

I had bought a gift certificate for someone. It mentioned that tickets would be emailed. I did not receive an email to send to the person I had bought the gift for. Her birthday was today, so I was a little down that I could not give her the birthday gift on time. I emailed the organization to ask about…

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Best pricing for the newbies?

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Shoshana

I have to make this quick. I am fast and furious at the Colorado Music Festival at the moment.  Again, if you are heading to the Boulder/Denver area this summer, let me know! I received information on a 50% off of subscriptions for new subscribers offer. This is a “Comcast” mentality to attempt to bring in new people. I understand…

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Arts advocacy revised!

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Shoshana

  Today was a major Arts Advocacy day in the news, from the new Arts Party in Australia, to the many arguments against arts using tax money. Also, add the arts as solutions articles that are also coming in more frequently. Seeing that the arts are being talked about, it would be good to revise our arts advocacy strategy. What I…

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“Shoshana Fanizza proved invaluable to the Colorado Music Festival during her tenure as Interim Development Director. She’s a quick learner, extremely organized, and understands the importance of donor cultivation and communication. Shoshana helped us meet our development goals for 2008, and helped guide our board to a new level of engagement in fundraising.” —Catherine Underhill, Executive Director

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